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D.  J.  Burrell 


A  Plea  for  the  Bible 

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Fifth  Avenue  and  Twenty-ninth  Street,  New  York  City. 
DAVID  JAMES^BURRELL.  D.D..  LL.D.,  Minister. 

Volume  27  December  16th.  1917  Number  11 


A  PLEA  FOR 
THE  BIBLE  IN  THE  VERNACULAR. 


"1  had  rather  speak  five  words  with  my  understanding,  that  by  my  voice  I 
light  teach  others  also,  than  ten  thousand  words  in  an  unknown  torgue." 

1  Cor.  1 4: 19. 


So  would  you  or  I  or  anybody  else  who  realizes  that 
the  only  use  of  language  is  to  convey  thought. 

Paul  was  a  University-bred  man.  Hebrew  and  Greek 
were  at  his  tongue's  end;  but  he  was  too  wise  to  use 
either  in  addressing  an  audience  that  could  not  under- 
stand them.  He  regarded  the  pentecostal  gift  of 
tongues  in  the  same  way.  "If  any  man  have  the  gift 
of  tongues,"  he  says,  "let  him  pray  that  he  may  have 
the  gift  of  interpretation  also;  else  how  shall  he  that 
sitteth  in  the  seat  of  the  unlearned  say  Amen,  seeing 
he  understandeth  not?"  To  make  oneself  understood; 
that  is  the  important  thing.  Otherwise  he  will  be 
simply  beating  the  air. 

The  object  of  the  Scriptures  is  to  reveal  the  mind 
of  God  with  respect  to  the  welfare  of  man.  In  them 
we  have  a  solution  of  all  the  great  problems  which 
have  to  do  with  our  spiritual  and  eternal  life.  It  is 
immensely  important,  therefore,  that  they  should  be 
so  expressed  as  to  be  readily  understood  by  all  sorts 
and  conditions  of  men. 


2  A   PLEA   FOR 

And  right  there  we  come  upon  a  singularly  incon- 
gruous fact,  namely,  that  our  English  Bible  is  not  in 
the  vernacular.  The  Scriptures  have  been  translated 
into  more  than  five  hundred  different  languages  and 
dialects  and  always  in  the  current  speech  of  the  present 
day.  The  sole  exception  is  our  English  Bible,  which  is 
expressed  in  the  language  of  three  hundred  years  ago. 
How  shall  we  account  for  this? 

In  the  sixth  century  when  Augustine  went  over  to 
Britain  with  other  missionaries  he  found  our  Anglo- 
Saxon  forefathers  bowing  down  to  stocks  and  stones, 
but  not  without  aspirations  after  the  better  way.  It 
is  related  that  as  one  Paulinus  was  preaching  to  the 
barbaric  king  of  Northumbria  a  sparrow  flew  in  at 
the  open  door  and,  after  circling  about  the  apartment, 
flew  out  again ;  whereupon  the  king  observed,  "So  is 
man's  life ;  it  comes  and,  having  tarried  for  a  little 
while,  goes  out  into  the  unknown.  If  thou  canst  tell 
us  whence  we  come  or  whither  we  go,  speak  on."  It 
was  fortunate  that  the  missionaries  were  able  to  re- 
lieve his  doubts.  But  they  were  greatly  hampered  by 
the  fact  that  the  only  Bible  in  their  possession  was  in 
the  original  tongues,  which  were  literally .  Greek  and 
Hebrew  to  the  natives  of  the  British  Isles.  The  neces- 
sity was  met  in  a  measure  by  reducing  a  part  of  the 
Scriptures  to  rhyme  in  the  familiar  language  of  the 
people,  and  from  time  to  time  translations  were  made 
of  other  portions  of  the  Word  of  God. 

It  was  seven  long  centuries,  however,  before  the 
Anglo-Saxons  had  a  complete  Bible  of  their  own.  For 
lack  of  it  there  was  no  open  vision  and  the  sun  went 
down.  Those  were  "the  dark  ages."  Then  came 
Wycliffe,  A.D.  1400.  His  translation  of  the  Scrip- 
tures into  the  vernacular  v/as  in  violation  of  both 
royal  and  papal  law ;  his  body  was  burned  and  its  ashes 
sprinkled  upon  the  running  stream.  But  his  Bible  lived 
on;  and  his  ashes  were  borne  by  "the  Avon  to  the 
Severn  and  the  Severn  to  the  sea." 


THE    BIBLE    IN    THE   VERNACULAR  6 

It  was  another  hundred  years  before  Tyndale  ap- 
peared with  his  memorable  resolve,  "I  will  render  the 
Scriptures  in  such  simple  form  that  every  plowboy  as 
he  tills  the  fields  may  read  it."  This  was  also  in  viola- 
lation  of  a  law  passed  in  the  Convocation  of  Oxford, 
"All  unauthorized  persons  are  forbidden  to  translate 
any  portion  of  the  Scriptures  into  the  English  tongue." 
Accordingly  the  adventurous  Gospeller  was  burned  at 
the  stake ;  but  not  until  the  work  of  his  hands  had  been 
established  upon  him. 

Two  things  happened  in  the  meantime  that  fore- 
tokened the  break  of  day.  One  was  the  invention  of 
the  printing  press,  and  the  other  was  the  Reformation. 
The  watchword  of  the  Reformation  was  an  open  Bible ; 
and  the  art  of  printing  made  the  Bible  accessible  to  all. 

In  1611  the  ban  was  lifted.  King  James  not  only 
rescinded  the  law  which  forbade  the  translation  of  the 
Scriptures  into  the  English  tongue  but  called  a  Con- 
vocation of  English  scholars  to  produce  a-  suitable 
version.  They  came  together  in  the  Jerusalem  Cham- 
ber at  Westminster  and,  after  ten  years  of  earnest 
labor,  completed  the  King  James  Version.  This  is  the 
Bible  now  in  use  throughout  the  Anglo-Saxon  world. 

An  attempt  at  a  further  revision  was  made  in  1880 
when  a  similar  Convocation  met  in  the  same  Chamber 
at  Westminster  and  produced  "the  Oxford  Version :" 
but  this  was  done  under  a  special  restriction  that  "the 
style  of  language  must  be  closely  followed ;"  in  conse- 
quence of  which  it  has  met  with  so  little  acceptance  that 
the  former  version  is  still. in  general  use. 

So  it  happens  that  we  have  no  Bible  in  the  vernacu- 
lar but  are  still  reading  from  one  expressed  in  the  lan- 
guage of  three  centuries  ago. 

Now  there  are  many  things  to  be  said  in  favor  of 
the  Authorized  Version. 

First,  it  is  expressed  in  the  stately  and  mellifluous 
tongue  of  the  golden  age  of  English  literature.  This 
is  conceded   and   deeply  appreciated   by  all   scholars 


4  A   PLEA   FOR 

who  love  "the  well  of  English  undefyled."  But  it  does 
not  make  for  clarity  in  our  time.  Christ  the  incarnate 
Word,  would  doubtless  have  been  a  more  imposing 
figure  had  he  appeared  in  purple  and  fine  linen,  wear- 
ing a  crown  or  a  halo ;  but  he  came  down  to  our  level 
and  was  clad  in  homespun,  that  he  might  win  the  com- 
mon people  by  showing  himself  to  be  a  man  among 
men. 

Second,  the  Authorized  or  King  James  Version 
is  endeared  to  Christians  by  its  long  continued  use  and 
happy  associations.  This  also  is  conceded ;  but  un- 
fortunately it  has  no  such  associations  for  those  who 
are  unfamiliar  with  it ;  and  these  are  the  people  whom 
we  are  trying  to  win.  Our  memories  run  fondly  back 
to  "the  old  oaken  bucket,  the  iron-bound  bucket,  the 
moss-covered  bucket  that  hung  in  the  well ;"  but  the 
thirsty  traveller  would  just  as  lief  drink  from  any 
convenient  spring.  What  the  average  non-Christian 
wants  is  a  cool  and  refreshing  draught  of  the  water  of 
life. 

Third,  it  is  affirmed  that  the  King  James  Version 
of  the  Scriptures  is  marvellous  for  its  accuracy.  This 
also  is  granted.  Nay,  more,  it  is  a  very  miracle  of  ac- 
curacy. The  scholars  who  assembled  in  1880  to  revise 
it  were  amazed  to  find  how  few  and  insignificant  were 
the  changes  required  by  three  hundred  years  of  pro- 
gress. Not  a  single  error  was  discovered  that  affected 
in  the  least  its  integrity  as  an  "infallible  rule  of  faith 
and  practice!"  Nothing  but  the  safeguarding  of  a 
special  Providence  could  account  for  this. 

Nevertheless  an  earnest  plea  is  entered  for  another 
revision  which  shall  reduce  this  admirable  version  to 
the  current  English  of  our  time;  for  the  following 
reasons : 

First,  the  Bible  was  originally  written  in  the  ver- 
nacular. 


THE   BIBLE    IN    THE   VERNACULAR  5 

Moses  and  the  prophets  addressed  the  people  in  the 
language  which  they  were  accustomed  to  speak.  So 
did  Christ  during  his  ministry.  He  did  not  preach  in 
Hebrew  or  Greek  but  in  Aramaic,  a  hybrid  tongue. 
Why  so?  Because  this  was  the  common  form  of 
speech  and  he  wanted  the  people  to  understand  him. 
Wherefore  it  is  written,  "The  common  people  heard 
him  gladly."  And  why  was  it  that  when  he  quoted 
from  the  Scriptures  it  was  not  from  the  Hebrew  but 
from  the  Septuagint  ?  Because  this,  whatever  its  draw- 
backs, was  the  Version  of  the  Old  Testament  in  com- 
mon use.  The  apostles  in  like  manner  wrote  the  Gos- 
pels and  the  Epistles  not  in  classical  Greek  but  in  the 
more  familiar  dialect  known  as  "the  vulgar  tongue." 

It  thus  appears  that  the  entire  Bible  in  the  original 
was  expressed  in  the  current  language  of  the  time  so 
that  even  the  unlearned  would  have  no  difficulty  in 
understanding  it.  By  the  same  token  those  who  would 
now  secure  the  general  acceptance  of  the  Scriptures 
should  see  that  it  is  rendered  in  the  clearest  possible 
terms.  The  very  reasons  that  call  for  any  translation 
at  all  are  of  equal  value  in  warranting  a  translation  into 
the  current  language  of  our  time. 

Second,  the  Bible  as  originally  written  was  ad- 
justed to  the  progress  of  succeeding  ages ;  and  a  ver- 
nacular translation  is  required  to  keep  it  so. 

Progress  is  a  fact;  but  the  moving  world  has  not 
moved  an  inch  away  from  the  truth  of  the  Scriptures 
as  they  were  divinely  given  to  men.  Art  and  Science 
and  Philosophy  have  developed  nothing  which  was  not 
forecast  in  the  Bible  as  it  left  the  hands  of  the  inspired 
writers  who  "wrote  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Spirit 
of  God."  But  there  have  been  changes  in  the  forms 
of  human  speech  which,  while  they  in  no  wise  affect  the 
integrity  of  the  Book,  must  be  duly  recognized  if  the 
Book  is  to  be  kept  in  line  with  the  logic  of  events.  The 
first  edition  of  Webster's  Dictionary  which  was  pub- 
lished in  1828  contained  about  seventy  thousand  words  ; 


6  A    PLEA    FOR 

the  last  edition  contains  above  four  hundred  thousand! 
Is  this  improvement  in  facility  of  expression  to  be  ig- 
nored in  the  propagation  of  the  Scriptures?  What  an 
opportunity  is  here,  not  for  the  alteration  of  one  jot 
or  tittle  of  their  contents,  but  for  giving  a  clearer  and 
simpler  avenue  of  approach  to  the  mind  of  the  aver- 
age man ! 

Third,  the  Bible  as  originally  written  was  every- 
body's Book :  and  it  should  be  so  presented  to  the  people 
that  everybody  shall  be  able  with  the  greatest  possible 
ease  to  read  and  comprehend  it. 

This  Book  was  not  intended  for  any  learned  junta 
of  "experts"  but  for  all  sorts  of  men.  "It  is  indeed  so 
profound  that  an  elephant  may  drown  in  it,"  as  one  of 
the  early  fathers  said,  "but  it  is  also  so  simple  that  a 
lamb  can  safely  ford  it."  Nevertheless  a  version  of 
the  Scriptures  in  the  language  of  the  Elizabethan  era 
is  not  easy  reading  for  those  who  are  unaccustomed 
to  it.  We  who  were  born  and  bred  in  Christian  house- 
holds where  "the  old  ha'  Bible"  was  in  constant  use 
find  no  difficulty  with  its  antique  form  of  expres- 
sion :  but  there  are  others  who  are  unnecessarily  puz- 
zled by  it. 

Not  long  ago  a  man  just  out  of  Sing  Sing  asked  me 
to  advise  him  how  to  build  himself  up  in  a  Christian 
life.  I  referred  him  to  the  Book,  using  the  words  of 
the  Master,  "Search  the  Scriptures  for  in  them  ye 
think  ye  have  eternal  life  and  these  are  they  which  tes- 
tify of  me."  He  undertook  to  read  and  study  it  sys- 
tematically but  presently  returned  with  this  com- 
plaint. "It's  hard  reading,  dominie.  You  know  how 
I  was  brought  up :  and  when  a  fellow  has  spent  twenty 
years  in  a  cell  eight  by  four  he's  not  all  there.  I  can 
read  Nick  Carter  and  the  newspaper ;  but  somehow  this 
Book  staggers  me." 

Yet  this  is  the  very  sort  of  man  to  whom  our  blessed 
Bible  should  make  its  strongest  appeal.  It  is  in  his 
behalf  that  I  plead  for  a  Book  stripped  of  all  antique 


THE   BIBLE   IN    THE   VERNACULAR  7 

words  and  phrases  and  couched  in  the  language  of  our 
common  Hfe. 

Is  it  not  a  singular  thing  that  we  should  expect  and 
require  our  Bible  Societies  to  furnish  all  the  peoples 
of  the  earth  with  the  Scriptures  in  the  vernacular — 
except  our  own?  When  Jacob  Chamberlain  went  to 
India  the  first  thing  he  did  was  to  provide  the  natives 
with  a  Bible  of  their  very  own.  All  the  Foreign  Mis- 
sionaries do  it.  But  our  Home  Missionaries  go  down 
to  "the  submerged  tenth"  and  to  the  unchurched  masses 
on  our  remote  frontiers,  handicapped  by  the  necessity 
of  presenting  God's  Word  in  a  dialect  which  was 
spoken  three  centuries  ago !  Suppose  I  were  to  use 
these  venerable  phrases  in  my  preaching,  what  would 
you  think  of  it? 

Let  no  one  misunderstand  me.  I  am  not  finding 
fault  with  the  accuracy  of  the  King  James  version : 
but  only  with  its  antique  style.  We  v/ho  are  acquainted 
with  it  are  naturally  devoted  to  it.  In  this  blessed 
Book  we  find  our  salvation;  because  the  luminous 
shadow  of  the  cross  falls  over  it.  Here  we  find  the 
secret  of  Sanctification,  or  growth  in  character;  as 
Jesus  said  in  his  sacerdotal  prayer,  "Father,  sanctify 
them  by  thy  truth ;  thy  Word  is  truth.''  And  here  we 
have  our  equipment  for  service  in  the  Holy  War,  as 
it  is  written,  "Take  unto  you  the  sword  of  the  Spirit 
zvhich  is  the  Word  of  God/' 

But  my  plea  is  for  the  lapsed  masses ;  for  those  who 
have  no  predilection  for  the  Bible  and  must  be  lured  to 
read  it.  No  sacrifice  of  the  slightest  atom  of  truth  in 
the  Authorized  Version  would  be  involved  in  bringing 
its  language  up  to  date.  It  would  be  the  very  same 
Bible,  only  brought  within  the  easy  reach  of  all. 

The  banks  of  the  Mississippi  change  with  every  pass- 
ing year;  its  sand-bars  shift  and  a  new  channel  forms, 
but  the  same  river  flows  on.  So  has  the  Bible  come 
down  to  us  along  the  centuries,  translated  and  re- 
translated into  the  vernaculars  of  the  world;  but  the 
Book  itself  abides  in  unimpaired  integrity;  the  same 


8  THE  BIBLE  IN  THE  VERNACULAR 

river  of  God,  bearing  the  frail  bark  of  humanity  to  a, 
boundless  sea. 

Wherefore  let  us  continue  to  use  with  perfect  love 
and  confidence  the  Bible  as  we  have  it.  Why  is  it  that 
this  is  the  ''best  seller"  in  the  Book  markets  of  the 
world  today?  It  is  because  it  does  for  us  what  no 
other  book  nor  all  other  books  put  together  can  do. 

"Within  this  sacred  volume  lies 
The  mystery  of  mysteries; 
Happiest  they  of  human  race 
To  whom  the  Lord  has  given  grace 
To  read,  to  think,  to  fear,  to  pray. 
To  lift  the  latch  and  ope  the  way." 

But  be  it  remembered  that  the  best  translation  of 
the  Scriptures,  when  all  is  said  and  done,  is  that  which 
transforms  it  into  life  and  duty  and  character  and  use- 
fulness. Neither  an  objective  Christ  nor  an  objective 
Bible  has  ever  saved  any  man.  It  is  only  as  we  "read 
and  ponder  and  inwardly  digest"  the  truth  that  we  are 
saved  and  sanctified  by  it.  For  the  kingdom  of  God 
is  righteousness  and  peace  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost ; 
and  "this  kingdom  is  within  you." 


A  Sermon  of  Dr.  Burrell's  is  ^atuitously  distributed  every  Sunday  evening 
from  October  Ist  to  June  Ist  inclusive.  For  the  convenience  of  persons  wishing 
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A  plea  for  the  Bible  in  the  vernacular. 


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